It has been known that binders, such as starch or starch-containing flours, can be sprayed with water, steam or aqueous salt or sugar solutions and that the agglomerates formed during this process can then be dried such as by means of a fluidized bed. However, this process cannot be applied when using pregelatinized starch or flours containing pregelatinized starch wherein the starch is present in a cold-swelling state. Wetting of these products, even when treated with steam, results in the formation of lumps. Consequently, the food preparations made using these products also contain lumps and do not swell easily in water and other aqueous liquids.